North Korea says it has American in custody

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Kim Jong Un

North Korea says it has American in custody

Kim Jong Un

NORTH KOREA — North Korea is holding an American man who it claims arrived in the country this month to seek asylum, the nation’s state news agency reported Friday.

KCNA identified the man as Miller Matthew Todd, who it says was taken into custody on April 10.

The man, according to KCNA, entered the country on a tourist visa. He tore his tourist visa and shouted that “he would seek asylum” and “came to the DPRK (North Korea) after choosing it as a shelter,” KCNA said.

The report came on the day that U.S. President Barack Obama visited South Korea — a trip that North Korea’s foreign ministry condemned as being “aimed to escalate confrontation and bring dark clouds of a nuclear arms race.”

The United States is aware of the report and has been in touch with Sweden — which represents American interests in North Korea — about it, State Department press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday.

Psaki said the United States has “no greater priority” than the welfare and safety of Americans, but had no further information to release about the situation.

6 comments

Any American citizen that takes the risk to visit North Korea is placing their future into their own hands. The United States should not be granting any authorization for our Citizens to visit North Korea. If this individual wants to live in North Korea, let him.

wayne swicegood

This is such as stupid comment. You know we can state that alot of US Presidents should have been detained in plenty of places, but instead we choose to leave it to the childish who would wish ill will on ANY human being—–Stop HATING on the 2nd TERM UNITED STATES PRESIDENT, MR BARACK OBAMA..He is not doing any worse than anyone else that has attempted to run this Great Nations of ours. PRESIDENT Obama just so happens to not be favored by most.. but he is liked by many!!!!! Muah